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Daimler's Mercedes has record sales month

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Daimler AG's luxury brand Mercedes-Benz sold a record number of cars in September.

The Stuttgart-based automaker said Friday it sold 142,994 vehicles during September, up 15.9 percent on the same month a year before.

It credited new versions of its E-Class and S-Class sedans, as well as increased sales of its smaller models such as the A-, B- and CLA-Class. Compacts increased sales as a group by 68.3 percent in the first nine months of the year.

September sales rose 6.7 percent in the United States, the brand's biggest single market, and 21.2 percent in China. Sales at home in Germany rose only 1.5 however.

Mercedes-Benz also increased sales 14.2 percent in Europe, where auto sales have generally lagged because of recession and sky-high unemployment in several countries.